Chapter Five Case: Merged , Incompatable IT Cultures (p. 93)

A short but to the point case that illustrates the power of culture in organizations. What do you think? Will this work? Can these folks work together? What does the culture reveal? What does it mean for the managers? What does it mean for the workers? So many questions; and these only scratch the surface.

Chapter Four Case: "Left out of the Loop" (p. 142)

It's actually pretty easy to find a case about systems theory. In a way, they are all about systems theory. In this case the advantage of thinking about an organization in systems theory terms is pretty obvious as organizational members do not feel they are equally involved in the organization.

Chapter Three Case: "For the good of the many" (p. 227)

Chapter three presents a bunch of ways of viewing and thinking about organizations, from scientific to human resource approaches. This case flips many of our assumptions about these approaches on their head. Howard Crane is not a novice manager, he is experienced and savy about his business and his employees. What does this case reveal about approaches to management and how they work "in the field?"

Chapter Two Case: "How do you get anything done around here?" (p. 54}

Kate has a problem but clearly the organization does, too. We are not looking for miraculous solutions here. Expecting things to change drastically is probably as naive as Tom suggests. What we are looking at, is how communication is understood in the organization. What does this case tell us about different approaches to communication. It might be very interesting to look at communication as balancing creativity and constraint in this case, for example. What's your take?

Chapter One Case: "The First Day at Work" p. 272

Paige is in a situation any of you could be in soon. Orientation is not going exactly as she had planned. What insight does chapter one give into what Paige is experiencing in the case? How can we better understand her experience?